枪毙

• Pinyin: qiāng bì
• Hanzi breakdown: 枪 = 木 (wood) + 仓 (phonetic — originally a wooden weapon); 毙 = 比 + 死 (sudden death — to drop dead)

Meaning

To execute by shooting; to shoot to death, especially as a form of capital punishment carried out by firing squad.

Used in legal, historical, and journalistic contexts. While lethal injection has largely replaced this method in modern China, the term remains prevalent in historical narratives, literature, and legal discourse. Also used colloquially to mean 'to kill off' a proposal or plan.

Examples

1. 历史档案记载，那批战俘在审讯结束后即被就地枪毙，无一幸免。 Historical records show that the prisoners of war were shot on the spot after the interrogations, with no survivors.
2. 他因犯下多起蓄意谋杀罪，最终被法院判处死刑并执行枪毙。 Because he committed multiple premeditated murders, the court ultimately sentenced him to death and carried out the execution by shooting.
3. 电影以一场枪毙场面开场，令观众深切感受到战争的残酷与人命的脆弱。 The film opens with an execution-by-shooting scene, making the audience feel the cruelty of war and how fragile human life is.

Usage Guide

Context: law, history, media

Tone: negative

Do Say

• 该案件主犯因组织大规模贩毒活动，依法被判处死刑，于判决生效后不久执行枪毙。(The principal offender in the case was sentenced to death in accordance with the law for organising large-scale drug trafficking activities, and the sentence was carried out shortly after the verdict took effect.)
• 历史上曾有不少冤案，无辜者被匆忙枪毙，其家属数十年后才得到平反，所受的伤害难以弥补。(Historically, there have been many wrongful convictions in which innocent people were hastily executed, and their families only received rehabilitation decades later — the harm inflicted proved impossible to fully repair.)

Don't Say

• 我想枪毙那个烦人的同事 — using 枪毙 colloquially to vent frustration is deeply inappropriate and potentially alarming; use 受不了他 (can't stand him) or 真想教训他一顿 (really want to give him a piece of my mind) to express frustration instead

Origin & History

枪 (gun/firearm) + 毙 (to kill/die suddenly)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal